Pride at Work Statement on the Deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile

Pride at Work Statement on the Deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile

Washington, DC – Following the recent police-involved shootings of two black men – Alton Sterling and Philando Castile – Pride at Work Executive Director, Jerame Davis, issued the following statement:

“Alton Sterling was a father. Philando Castile was a union brother. Their lives mattered, but those lives were taken from them in the blink of an eye by the very people designated to protect and serve us all. The repeated and continuous violations of black bodies is appalling.

“Silence is no longer an option. Shrugging our shoulders and waiting for the next tragedy is not the answer. No fewer than six bills have been introduced in this Congress to attempt to address the outrageous number of police-involved deaths and to curb racial profiling in law enforcement. None of those bills have gotten out of committee.

“This is a national crisis and our federal government needs to act. We will never solve this problem piecemeal – we must tackle it head on and nationwide. There is no other way.

“We call upon Congress to swiftly consider the multitude of options before them to curb these tragedies. The time to act has long past. Black Lives Matter.”

##

Pride At Work organizes mutual support between the organized Labor Movement and the LGBTQ Community for social and economic justice. We seek full equality for LGBTQ Workers in our workplaces and unions and we organize in the spirit of the union movement’s historic motto, “An Injury to One is An Injury to All.” Learn more at www.prideatwork.org